Exploring the feasibility of applying data mining for library reference service improvement : a case study of Turku Main Library

Data mining, as a heatedly discussed term, has been studied in various fields. Its possibilities in refining the decision-making process, realizing potential patterns and creating valuable knowledge have won attention of scholars and practitioners. However, there are less studies intending to combine data mining and libraries where data generation occurs all the time. Therefore, this thesis plans to fill such a gap. Meanwhile, potential opportunities created by data mining are explored to enhance one of the most important elements of libraries: reference service. In order to thoroughly demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of data mining, literature is reviewed to establish a critical understanding of data mining in libraries and attain the current status of library reference service. The result of the literature review indicates that free online data resources other than data generated on social media are rarely considered to be applied in current library data mining mandates. Therefore, the result of the literature review motivates the presented study to utilize online free resources. Furthermore, the natural match between data mining and libraries is established. The natural match is explained by emphasizing the data richness reality and considering data mining as one kind of knowledge, an easy choice for libraries, and a wise method to overcome reference service challenges. The natural match, especially the aspect that data mining could be helpful for library reference service, lays the main theoretical foundation for the empirical work in this study. Turku Main Library was selected as the case to answer the research question: whether data mining is feasible and applicable for reference service improvement. In this case, the daily visit from 2009 to 2015 in Turku Main Library is considered as the resource for data mining. In addition, corresponding weather conditions are collected from Weather Underground, which is totally free online. Before officially being analyzed, the collected dataset is cleansed and preprocessed in order to ensure the quality of data mining. Multiple regression analysis is employed to mine the final dataset. Hourly visits are the independent variable and weather conditions, Discomfort Index and seven days in a week are dependent variables. In the end, four models in different seasons are established to predict visiting situations in each season. Patterns are realized in different seasons and implications are created based on the discovered patterns. In addition, library-climate points are generated by a clustering method, which simplifies the process for librarians using weather data to forecast library visiting situation. Then the data mining result is interpreted from the perspective of improving reference service. After this data mining work, the result of the case study is presented to librarians so as to collect professional opinions regarding the possibility of employing data mining to improve reference services. In the end, positive opinions are collected, which implies that it is feasible to utilizing data mining as a tool to enhance library reference service.

New Library-curated Faculty Profile Platform Launches Through bepress

As faculty needs evolve and become increasingly digital, libraries are feeling the pressure to provide relevant new services. At the same time, faculty members are struggling to create and maintain their professional reputations online. We at bepress are happy to announce the new SelectedWorks, the fully hosted, library-curated faculty profile platform that positions the library to better support faculty as well as the institution at large. Beverly Lysobey, Digital Commons and Resource Management Librarian, at Sacred Heart University, says: “Both faculty and administration have been impressed with the services we provide through SelectedWorks; we’re able to show how much our faculty really publishes, and it’s great for professors to get that recognition. We’ve had several faculty members approach us for help making sure their record was complete when they were up for tenure, and we’ve even found articles that authors themselves no longer had access to.” With consistent, organized, institution-branded profiles, SelectedWorks increases campus-wide exposure and supports the research mission of the university. As the only profile platform integrated with the fully hosted Digital Commons suite of publishing and repository services, it also ensures that the institution retains management of its content. Powerful integration with the Digital Commons platform lets the home institution more fully capture the range of scholarship produced on campus, and hosted services facilitate resource consolidation and reduces strain on IT. The new SelectedWorks features a modern, streamlined design that provides compelling display options for the full range of faculty work. It beautifully showcases streaming media, images, data, teaching materials, books – any type of content that researchers now produce as part of their scholarship. Detailed analytics tools let authors and librarians measure global readership and track impact for a variety of campus stakeholders: authors can see the universities, agencies, and businesses that are reading their work, and can easily export reports to use in tenure and promotion dossiers. Janelle Wertzbeger, Assistant Dean and Director of Scholarly Communications at Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library, says, “The new author dashboard maps and enhanced readership are SO GOOD. Every professor up for promotion & tenure should use them!” And of course, SelectedWorks is fully backed by the continual efforts of the bepress development team to provide maximum discoverability to search engines, increasing impact for faculty and institutions alike: Reverend Edward R. Udovic, Vice President for Teaching and Learning Resources at DePaul University, says, “In the last several months downloads of my scholarship from my [SelectedWorks] site have far surpassed the total distribution of all my work in the previous twenty five years.”

Sustainability of Open Access Services: Phase 4 Workshop report

Phase 4: Review of the conditions under which individual services and platforms can be sustained On Tuesday 1 October 2013, in Bristol, United Kingdom, Knowledge Exchange brought together a group of international Open Access Service providers to discuss the sustainability of their services. A number of recurring lessons learned were mentioned; Though project funding can be used to start up a service, it does not guarantee the continuation of a service and it can be hard to establish the service as a viable entity, standing on its own feet. Research funders should be aware that if they have policies or mandates for making research outputs available they will eventually also be responsible for on-going support for the underlying infrastructure. At present some services are used globally but the costs are only covered by a limited geographic spread, sometimes only a number of institutions or only one country. Finding other funding sources can be challenging. Various routes were mentioned including commercial partnerships, memberships, offering additional paid services or using a Freemium model. There is not one model that will fit all. As more services turn to library sponsorship to sustain them, one strategy might be to bundle the requests and approach a group of research and infrastructure funders or institutions (and others) with a package rather than each service going through the same resource consuming process of soliciting funding. This will also allow the community to identify gaps, dependencies and overlap in the services. The possibility of setting up an organisation to bundle the services was discussed and a number of risks were identified.

Perceptions of Social Supports and Services for Intimate Partner Violence Victims

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex issue. The present study explored how media exposure to female and male victims of IPV affected participants’ support for both groups. It was hypothesized that female victims would be supported more than male victims and that presenting stimuli that drew attention to male victims would not decrease support for female victims. Participants were presented with one of three posters, drawing attention to male victims, female victims, or both. A questionnaire was then used to assess perceptions of support for IPV victims, which was completed by 121 participants. Results indicated that females were supported more than males and that drawing attention to male victims did not decrease participants’ support for female victims. An exploratory analysis also revealed that women, overall, have high support for all victims, while men’s level of support changed depending on the type of information to which they were exposed.

Interim report of the South Carolina State Health and Human Services Finance Commission

This report summarizes the Commission's activities through June 30, 1984.

Annual report of the State Health and Human Services Finance Commission ... 1984-1985

This report summarizes the Commission's activities during the fiscal year which ended on June 30, 1985.

Public health services

This brochure lists services given by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. It also lists South Carolina health agencies, their address and contact information.

STUDY ON THE USE AND QUALITY OF INFORMATION BY INTERNET DOCUMENTARY OF STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY, COSTA RICA: CASE LABORATORY LIBRARY ROOM Joaquin Garcia Monge

It is no secret that computer services came to revolutionize the world. More than a service, have since become an indispensable tool for humanity, because they simplify and make life easier in many of his orders, through its various support options. These advances are added Internet services, so that by the mid 1980's assessed the need for such a research tool in order to apply it in various fields of human knowledge.This research, based on the use and quality of documentary information from the Internet, with application to the students of the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, if the Library Board Laboratory Joaquin Garcia Monge, develops in the form of theses.

USER TRAINING IN THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF COSTA RICA

This document is aimed to serve as a tool for officials (as) public library in the training process and educational users who make use of the services offered, and in turn, fulfill the aims and purposes these cultural centers should pursue as a social entity.

Reimagining the Public Library as Public Space

Once regarded as the public’s center of knowledge and information, public libraries today are challenged by the rise of mobile technology and the Internet. Information behavior of everyday library patrons have transformed to rely on instant access of information through Google search instead of the resources housed in their local libraries. The focus of public library design is shifting from storing & protecting valuable resources (books) to the experience of an active public space of learning, engaging and reading. This thesis reimagines a public library branch in East Baltimore City by evaluating the architecture of public library examples of the past and of today. By understanding the user experience of the three key elements of public library design – procession, services & flexible space - a new public library design that engages and responds to the local community can be proposed.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Lowcountry

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the lowcountry region of South Carolina.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Mid-Carolina

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the midlands region of South Carolina.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Pee Dee

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Upstate

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the upstate region of South Carolina.

Making Change, Increasing Value: Reorganizing Your Access Services Department

Presentation from the Towson Conference for Academic Libraries: Collaborating Across the Library, August 16, 2016, Towson University, Towson, MD